AMT to be abolished, planning transferred to elected officials

Quebec Minister of Transport Robert Poëti presented a plan to a committee of the Montreal Metropolitan Community last Friday to abolish the Agence métropolitaine de Montréal, which runs trains and plans regional public transit projects.

It seems there are about to be more politicians having a say on public transit projects for the Montreal region.

Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poëti presented a plan to a committee of the Montreal Metropolitan Community last Friday to abolish the Agence métropolitaine de Montréal, which runs trains and plans regional public transit projects.

In its place will be two bodies: the Réseau de transports métropolitain would run the public transit agencies off-island, essentially merging several small regional agencies (called Conseils Intermunicipal de Transport) into one. Under that arrangement, the roles of the major regional transit agencies — the Société de transport de Montréal, the Réseau de transport de Longueuil and the Société de transport de Laval — would continue mostly unchanged.

The other body, to be called the Agence régionale de transport, would be made up of mayors of the Montreal metropolitan region and so-called experts, to be named by the government, and would manage long-term planning projects.

In Montreal on Monday, Poëti had little to say on the proposed structure.

“We presented a proposition for a new global structure that will improve the global picture of public transit for the region,” he said. “I am waiting this week for an agreement in principle from the MMC.”

Passengers arrive to board the train heading to St-Jerôme at the Parc Station of the St-Jerôme line of the AMT in Montreal on Monday, April 27, 2015.

Anne-Catherine Couture, a spokesperson for Poëti, said the new structure will be presented to the provincial cabinet on Wednesday, and more details will be given sometime after that.

Fanie St-Pierre, a spokesperson for the AMT, said the agency has been working with the minister on a new model to govern public transit.

“M. Poëti spoke with (AMT CEO Nicolas Girard) on Friday,” St-Pierre said. “We will continue to work with the minister, and eventually there will be an announcement, followed by a new bill in the National Assembly. The AMT will continue its activities until then.”

She said the AMT will probably remain untouched at least for the rest of the year.

For its part, the MMC said it welcomes the change, without giving more details.

“The MMC welcomes the proposal for a new partnership between the province and the MMC with respect to governance, planning and financing public transit,” the MMC said in a statement Monday. “There is a consensus between all members of the executive committee on the new proposed model.”

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said the region needs a better way to manage public transit projects.

“We needed it for the fluidity, for the services, for the funding, for the new developments, the new projects that are coming,” Coderre said.

Passengers arrive to board the train heading to St-Jerôme at the Parc Station of the St-Jerôme line of the AMT in Montreal on Monday, April 27, 2015.

Montreal’s leading public transportation priorities, including extending the métro’s blue line, remain the same, Coderre said.

However, not everyone is convinced the new structure will solve more problems.

Westmount Mayor Peter Trent, a longtime observer of the municipal scene, said there is a history of public transit projects favouring the suburbs over the city core, and a new structure with local mayors from the region may not help matters.

“Right now, the (MMC) has 28 seats, 14 of which are the island of Montreal,” Trent said. “While the chairman (mayor of Montreal) has the preponderant vote, I can see there being stalemates.”

Trent said the two most recent expansions to the transit network — to build a métro to Laval, and to build a train to Mascouche, at the cost of more than $1 billion altogether — were the result of governments currying favour with voters in strategically important ridings. He doesn’t see that the new proposed structure, as has been reported, would stop those kinds of decisions from being made.

Trent did welcome, however, the merging of all the Conseils Intermunicipal de Transport, saying it would help better co-ordinate buses with train schedules.

Trent said he hadn’t heard which agency would run commuter trains, and proposed that the Société de Transport de Montréal take up that role.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.